Tag Archives: New York City

The most current GRUBBIT list: Updated June 2014

15 Jun

Mike and I have an ongoing list of places where we want to eat in NYC. I figured it would be fun to share and anyone who has dined (or wants to dine) at one of these fine establishments can leave a comment.  This also acts as a very easy repository for me to refer back to.  Without further ado… the GRUBBIT list started in 2011 (strike-outs and review links are those we’ve made it to through June 2014 with some adds):

  • ABC Kitchen
  • Alinea
  • Annisa
  • Blue Ribbon (for the brunch)
  • Breslin (still need to go back for the suckling pig roast)
  • Carbone
  • Casa Mono
  • Chef’s Table at Brooklyn Fare
  • Colicchio and Sons
  • Corner Bistro (for the burger)
  • Costata
  • Daniel
  • DBGB
  • Eataly
  • Eleven Madison Park
  • Fatty Crab
  • Hanjan
  • Il Mulino
  • James Beard House
  • Jean Georges
  • Lafayette
  • Little Owl
  • Maialino
  • Parm
  • Per Se
  • Porchetta
  • Porterhouse
  • Quality Italian
  • Spotted Pig
  • Strip House
  • Sushi Nakazawa

Are any of these “go immediately, do not pass Go, do not collect $200” places? Are any of these over-hyped? Am I missing anything you would recommend that hasn’t already been blogged about? What’s on your GRUBBIT list? ___________________________ Your NYC Nomming fact of the day: You can go to 3 New York restaurants a day, everyday, for 16 years, and never go to the same place twice. (I have my work cut out for me!)

The day we decided to #followtherabbit for a free Dominque Ansel Cronut and Cookie Shot

19 Apr

For the first time in a long time, Mike and I had a day off together.  We had no plans for Good Friday besides going to dinner with my cousins, and we figured we may wander the city and possibly take in a museum.

But then luck took a turn.  Now first, to preface, we are HUGE Dominique Ansel fans  (inventor of the Cronut) and have been since we had his jaw dropping desserts when he was the pastry chef for Daniel. I absolutely love his DKA, macarons, and the frozen s’more at his pastry shop in SoHo.

 

Torching the Frozen S’More

 

Dominique Ansel Frozen S’More on the bakery patio

Any time I have a visitor, I try to bring them to the shop for amazing pastries… even my (now 100 year old, as of yesterday)  awesome Aunt Dinah.

photo (30)
(Aunt Dinah after enjoying her first DKA)

So where did luck come in to play on this Good Friday?  I was sitting on the couch lazily scrolling through Instagram when I happened upon this post from @dominiqueansel:

http://instagram.com/p/m7qW9ElOKO/

It was about 10:40am and the first video posted indicated that they would be handing out a free Cronut and Cookie Shot to a few people near the Flatiron at 11am… and then would continue to post clues on Instagram and Twitter throughout the day under the hashtag #followtherabbit.  They would be doing this until 5:30 with 7 locations throughout the city in celebration of the upcoming first cookbook from Dominique Ansel.

By 10:55, we were out the door and on our way… but where to?

We figured that by the time we got down to Flatiron (about a 25 minute walk), they would be gone.  But I provided the driving school philosophy that if there is something in the road, you don’t know which way it’s going to move, so your best bet is to steer right towards it, figuring it will go SOME way to get out of the way (and you don’t want to guess wrong).

So we begin wandering in that direction, however, by about 11:20 we noticed in the comments that they were all out (and the internet trolls were very upset that the video was the clue to the exact location and the location mentioned was slightly off… people are so damn rude online!) We decided to pass by Flatiron and head down to Union Square, since it’s central and has lots of subways.  As we strolled, we noticed that the next video was posted, saying they were now in China Town.  So we decided “why not!” and jumped on the subway down to China Town and booked it to Confucius Plaza (a place we had never been), arriving about 20 minutes after the video posted.  We couldn’t quite find them, and then we saw the mystical Dominque Ansel yellow pastry box and approached the people with the prize to ask how it went.  They informed us we missed them by mere moments.

Dammit! But we were getting closer.

It seemed that they were posting every hour on the hour now, so we had some time to kill before the next post. We decided to take advantage of our day off and do something touristy we had always wanted to do, so we jumped on the 6 train and headed south below the Brooklyn Bridge Stop to get a gander at the abandoned subway station (the train turns around and heads back uptown at the end of the line).

Heading towards the abandoned subway station on the 6 train

 

Abandoned Subway Station below the last stop on the 6 train

We swung around the turn-around in the abandoned subway station (it was cool but I sure wish we could see a bit more!) and headed back uptown. I was thinking we should go to Union Square again for the same reason as last time (lots of subways there and centrally located) but Mike suggested we get off at Astor Place, so we went for it.

Cell phone service kicked back on right on the top of the hour, and that’s when we realized… They were in Union Square!

I am not embarrassed to say we bolted the 5 blocks there.

And we got there just in time… to watch the very last one be given away.

But now we knew what to look for!  White bags and a bunny with an orange balloon.

It was sure a rascally rabbit!  But we were having a blast running all over the city on a big treasure hunt.

So now we had another 50 minutes or so to kill. So we went around the Union Square Market, stopped in my favorite bathroom break hotel (the W at the north east corner of Union Square… just go right up the white spiraly staircase and you’re set).  It was now 1:30 and we had a choice to make… where to now?

We started doing some total guess work, that we called “hunches.” They were hopping around mostly in squares. It was only a matter of time before they hit Washington Square Park, right? Or maybe they would go to Gramercy Park? Could they totally switch it up and head up to Central Park?  We went with our first gut instinct and went to Washington Square Park.

And then as we rounded the corner toward the arch, we saw a magic thing. Before it was even posted, there were two lovely women with big white bags and a small furry bunny tied to an orange balloon.  SCORE!

We were second on line and I Instagrammed a not-so-secret picture a full 25 minutes before the clue was posted.

 

I was so damn excited that we found them!

The video was posted at 2pm on the dot and then the prize was in hand.

photo 2

 

They gave us our prized box and a couple special towels, and then were kind enough to take a picture of us with the bunny.

They even took a picture of us that they put on their site.

We hung out and watched the mayhem happen, as some people spotted the line and ran over with wonder in their eyes… and some tourists happened upon it and smartly jumped on the line just to see what it was (I hope they appreciated it!)

photo 1

 

They were gone in less than 15 minutes.

So what was in the beautiful yellow box of fun?

photo 4

 

Top left is a Passion Fruit Caramelia Chocolate (with cocoa nib sugar) cronut.  Top right is a bottle of the Tahitian vanilla flavored milk. And on the bottom is a chocolate chip cookie shot, which is like a firm (but somehow still soft) cookie lined with a delicious chocolate icing that you then pour the milk into.

As I sampled and sipped, I couldn’t help but feel like the luckiest person on earth (or at least in NYC). We had an adventure all over the city, on a beautiful day, saw some great things, and now ended our tour by magically happening upon the exact right spot to get a special treat.

I thought it hysterical that we wouldn’t wait on the line for 2 hours for the pastry, however, we had no problem spending all day on a scavenger hunt around the city to get ourselves the famous cronut. Would it be worth a 2 hour wait at 6am in the morning? Come on… is anything? But it was quite delicious.  I am not a huge donut fan, but to have one that had flaky layers filled with a passion fruit (but not too sweet) sauce and topped with a damn good icing was pretty awesome.

photo 3

And the cookie shot?  Really loved that!  Novel and fun. By the end of the shot, the icing had come off a bit and had made the milk into chocolate milk.  Delicious.  (Though I would still probably go back  for my original favorites)

What a day!

I can’t help but be grateful for the fun, unexpected day we got from Dominque Ansel.  A lot of people think the Cronut is overhyped (it is) and that Dominque Ansel uses it for marketing (he does, but what’s so wrong with that?) and there were a lot of people who didn’t think this scavenger hunt was very fair (it wasn’t)… but people need to relax.  This was great fun.  And let the haters hate. I’m just going to lick my lips and remember the day we magically got Cronuts.

#followtherabbit

Can’t wait for that cook book!

 

 

 

Top Noms of 2013

13 Jan

2013 was truly the best year of my life.  And most of my best memories of the year include (or entirely revolve around) amazing meals.

It was really tough to narrow it down to the top 10 this year with so many amazing meals, so I’m cheating a bit.  (To see the Top Noms of years past, check these links: 201220112010, and 2009)

Second Runner Up: After a lot of buzz and rumors of impossible reservations, we were lucky enough to walk in and get a seat at the bar at Chez Sardine.  This sticks out in my memory both for the amazing, creative food and for the fun of watching them construct it while peering directly into the kitchen from our bar seats.

Chez Sardine

First Runner Up: After two amazing meals at WD-50 (still in the top 3 of all time meals) we were excited to try Chef Wylie Dufresne’s more casual new restaurant, Alder.  Our entire meal was creative and great, but the chicken liver toast was a huge stand out that I still think about all these months later.

Alder: Chicken Liver Toast

#10: Our honeymoon was filled with a bunch of absolutely amazing meals, but our meal at Le Pigeon in Portland, OR really stood out for its freshness and unique use of ingredients. The trout lox paired so incredibly well with the raspberries. An unexpected match made in heaven.

Le Pigeon: Trout Lox

#9: We couldn’t wait to try Betony when it opened since it was from alumni of one of our absolute favorite restaurants, Eleven Madison Park.   We fell in love with the “Tuna Melt” with melted fontina cheese and there was sculptural beauty (and flavorful beauty) in the Marinated Trout Roe. Any other year this could be a #1 restaurant, but not in 2013.

Betony: Marinated Trout Roe on a puffed rice cracker with cucumber

#8: While we couldn’t take pictures of the Brooklyn Fare Chef’s Tasting menu, you will have to trust me that it all looked and tasted delicious.  We were very excited when they opened up a grocery store near our apartment in Manhattan and can’t wait to try their restaurant.  The Uni with White Truffle was so incredibly amazing and made me fall in love with uni (after a lot of “what’s the big deal?” in the past).

Brooklyn Fare Chef's Tasting

#7: For our date anniversary dinner, Mike took us to Del Posto, where we enjoyed the beautiful place almost as much as we enjoyed the near flawless meal.  It has certainly earned its stellar reputation as being a top restaurant in New York.

Del Posto: Lobster

#6: In what world does The French Laundry in Napa Valley, CA come in as #6 for the year?  I still am in a bit of disbelief that we didn’t love this famous restaurant even more.  In the end, it was probably one of the most perfect meals I’ve ever had, but it just wasn’t surprising.  But the oysters and pearls have truly earned their place in culinary history.

The French Laundry: Oysters and Pearls

 

#5: Coming back from the honeymoon, we had one last hurrah at The NoMad in NYC.  We tried the famous chicken, which had the audacity to not just be perfectly cooked with impeccably crispy skin, but also stuffed with foie gras and black truffle.  It was every bit as good as I hoped it would be, as was the rest of the meal.

The Nomad: Roasted Chicken

#4: Blanca was another Chef’s Tasting menu that didn’t allow us to take pictures of the meal (bummer), but this private room behind Roberta’s Pizza in Bushwick, Brooklyn offered surprises around every corner. There were more than 25 meticulous courses, including a stand-out king crab with plankton butter sauce and not a single bad dish in all 25.

Blanca: Chef's Tasting

#3: Anytime someone asks where they should go in NYC if they want a nice meal, I recommend Colicchio and Sons.  It never fails to impress and we went back to see if the Tasting Menu could live up to our opinion from the previous time.  Each dish built upon the last and they were all expertly crafted. I have especially fond memories about the uniqueness of the potato bavarois dome with Hackeback caviar and vodka cream with homemade potato chips.

Colicchio & Sons:  Tasting Menu

 

#2: A huge surprise was how much we fell in absolute love with Canlis in Seattle, WA during our honeymoon.  Every dish was great and service was so warm and so welcome.  It’s hard to pick a favorite part of this meal, but I still remember how much I enjoyed their preparation of foie gras with homemade brioche to spread it on.

Canlis: Foie Gras

#1 (THE #1): I was so excited to finally try Chef Grant Achatz’s Alinea in Chicago, IL at the very end of the year.  Every moment of this meal was special and fun and incredibly delicious. Even if it hadn’t been as entertaining and creative, the taste of the food alone would have made this the meal of the year.  The rest, and especially the cleverness, made this the meal of a lifetime.  The best meal we have ever, ever had.  The white truffle risotto that they brought out as a special treat was hands down the most amazing thing I have ever eaten.  It is worth a special trip to Chicago just to have the good fortune of eating here.

Alinea: White Truffle Risotto

 

Alinea: Scallop

 

We are so incredibly fortunate.  Thank you, 2013.